By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Health of Mother Earth Foundation in collaboration with frontline civil society organizations, socio-cultural groups and individuals in the Niger Delta region have unveiled the Niger Delta Manifesto for Socio-Ecological Justice.
The Manifesto is meant to aggregate the key issues affecting the Niger Delta into a single regional advocacy manifesto to drive popular advocacies and campaigns and address the issues confronting the region.
In a communique issued to journalists on Friday, the HOMEF Director, Nnimmo Bassey urged environmentalists to insist on urgent transition from destructive fossil fuel extraction activity, demand and insist on a clean-up of the entire region.
He noted how important the Manifesto is, considering that the world is moving from fossil fuels and that Nigeria is struggling unsuccessfully to meet her OPEC production quota.
The launch occurred on Tuesday, June 23, at the inaugural ceremony of the Niger Delta Alternatives Convergence (NDAC) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Chairman of the Convergence, Obong Victor Attah, former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, declared in his opening remarks, “We must be ready to ask and provide answers to such questions as: Do we need new methods of administration; do we need a complete systems change… At the end, this convergence must bring about something new and beneficial to the long suffering Niger Delta Region.”
At the meeting, one of the observations made was that the management of the 13% Derivation Fund and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), just like other initiatives before them, have become cesspools of corruption in utter disregard for the ostensible purpose for which they were created.
The activists urged the Federal government to do a comprehensive environmental audit of the Niger Delta with Ogoniland serving as the starting and learning point of this exercise, remediation and restoration of all impacted sites and place a halt to the IOC divestments in the Niger Delta which are targeted at evading justice for the ruination of oil-bearing communities.
They also urged the government to review the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to address lingering issues of gas flaring, establishment of Host Community Development Funds, and halting the criminalization of community right to civil disobedience, among others.
The Niger Delta communities were urged to demand accountability, speak up against environmental, socio-cultural injustice and effectively participate in policy formulation.